


wavelenght r

by rsb23



Category: GOT7, JJ Project
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Space, Angst, Fluff and Angst, Humour, M/M, Minor Character Death, Romance, Sci-Fi AU, Slow Burn, Slow Burnish, Space AU, alien!jinyoung, alien!youngjae, inaccurate physics, lots of space talk, rating may go up as the story progesses
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-02
Updated: 2018-11-10
Packaged: 2019-07-23 21:32:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,951
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16167332
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rsb23/pseuds/rsb23
Summary: “I’d like to remind you that your captain is anewbieas well, First Officer” Jaebum said. Jinyoung eyes turned cold.“You might be the captain and I the first Officer but I’m in every way your senior and you will be under my supervision during the mission, so I advise you to rethink how you're going to behave around me, seeing as out of the two of us, I’m the more experienced one who can therefore be of better judgement,understood?”Jaebum pressed his lips together as he was seething in his chair. Anger management has never been one of his fortes.“Understood,Captain Imor is common sense not required anymore for one to be able to graduate?”orspace au with a lot of inaccurate space talk and enemies to lovers jjp, enjoy





	1. Artilion

**Author's Note:**

> huge shutout to [Miranda](https://jjshipper.tumblr.com/) for her help! ♡♡ ily

“My hope for all of you is that as you leave here today, you decide to keep these principles alive in your own life and in the life of this country. You will be tested. You won’t always succeed. But know that you have it within your power to try. That generations who have come before you faced these same fears and uncertainties in their own time. And that through our collective labor, and through the  _ Pengeran _ ’s providence, and our willingness to shoulder each other’s burdens, the Union of Galaxies will continue on its precious journey towards that distant horizon, and a better day.

 

Thank you so much class of 3240, and congratulations on your graduation.”

 

* * *

  
  


“Yah Im Jaebum! Over here!”

 

Before Jaebum could even turn around there was a body crashing into his. He quickly grabbed his graduation cap - which threatened to fall of his head due to the sudden collapse - and planted his feet onto the ground as to keep himself from falling over. 

 

“Are you really going to ignore your hyung now that you've graduated as a captain?” Youngjae grinned at him. He was also wearing a graduation gown, although his was light blue decorated with the emblem of the “ _ Medical Department”  _ sewn into it with golden thread. He was looking at Jaebum with a shiteating grin and the little scars on the side of his face and down his throat with a yellow hue.  Jaebum couldn’t help but bite his grin back. 

 

“Not captain. Not yet.” said Jaebum.

 

“But soon though" winked Youngjae at him. 

 

“Of course” Jaebum grinned back and crooked one of his eyebrows. “I will need a doctor on my ship though. Interested?” 

 

“You just want to order your hyung around, don't you?” deadpanned Youngjae.

 

There were families mingling around them everywhere, it was graduation day after all. Thousands of students from all around the galaxy have graduated today from more than 900 different departments of the UG University. Now, they only had a few hours left to say goodbye to their families before they got their assigned position at the Union of Galaxies Federal Defences(UGFD). The air was filled with nervous tension. Getting the right position could make or break your entire career. Jaebum’s stomach twisted with anxiety at the thought. 

 

“University was great but I'm glad it's over. Now comes the fun stuff.” Youngjae threw his arm around around Jaebum's shoulders and looked around with a  nostalgic expression.

 

* * *

 

 

Jaebum first met Youngjae at his first ever mono-practical stimulation (MPS). The simulation was made to let the students try out different jobs/fields of expertise required on a spaceship bridge to help them determine into which field they want to go into after completing their basic training.

 

Jaebum - only in his first year of basic training - had the job of being the second coordinator. Most of the crew were older students with only a few first years doing secondary jobs.  Jaebum didn't have much to do as the first coordinator - a senior from the Intercommunication Department - did most of the work with almost a practised ease.

 

The simulation room looked like a normal  bridge . It was big and had the typical half moon form with a huge glass panel serving as the front window. The panels with various touch screens on the right side were for the coordination crew, the left side was for the communication and linguistic experts. At the front of the room was a straight panel looking directly at the glass screen. That was the place for the armor and command crew. Just a little behind them, on a slightly lifted podium was the captain’s chair.  

 

“Your first time?” 

 

There was a boy about his age standing behind him. He had a smile on his face which was decorated with small scars emitting a pale baby pink soft glow. The small scars spread from his right temple down to his ear and his throat, disappearing under his uniform. He looked into the stranger’s eyes and nodded warily.

 

“Youngjae,  Denobulan from the X89-12 planet. Second year general interspecies medical student.” 

 

_ Of course, that explained the glowing scars. _

 

The Denobulans weren’t a very common race on Artilion, mostly because they needed  _ Leuvie  _ \- a special kind of glowing water indigenous to their home planet - to survive. The Denobulans were a humanoid species, their inner biology differing a lot from the human one. They lacked all kinds of inner organs, they entire body was made up from arterias where the  _ Leuvie _ flowed, keeping them alive. Besides the  _ Leuvie _ they didn't needed anything else. No food, no water and very little sleep (on average a Denobulan spent about 56 hours on sleep a year). Their only flaw was that they lacked physical strength and stamina.

 

Most Denobulans - if they left their home planet that is - went into the research fields. As they were a highly productive species thanks to their lack of basic needs - and settled down in the outskirts of the cities in the midst of government supported research facilities.

 

So seeing a Denobulan wasn’t exactly  _ that _ surprising. Seeing a Denobulan on a MPS, especially made to prepare cadetes for real life deep space missions, however  _ was _ . 

 

“Im Jaebum, human from Artilion. Trainee in basic skills.” Jaebum introduced himself.

 

“Ah, the basic training. Such a pain in the ass.” Youngjae laughed. “It will get much better once you're done with that though. Which department are you going for?”

 

“Intergalactic Mission Leadership. Deep space section.”

 

“Ah, so you're aiming for the captain title. That’s pretty ambitious.” 

 

“Trying to be a doctor on a spaceship as a Denobulan is pretty ambitious too.” Jaebum replied coldly. 

 

“It is” Youngjae said with a sharp tone to his voice “but ambition is the only path to success.”

 

Jaebum let out a smile at that. “I see we already have one thing in common then.”

  
  


* * *

  
  


Jaebum’s grandparents travelled all the way from the 23th neighbouring planet to Artilion on the day of Jaebum’s graduation. They showered him with words of adoration and his grandmother started crying as she hugged him. Jaebum’s sure his grandfather’s eyes were unusually watery too as the man patted him on the back and told him “ _ You did good son _ ” with his usual contained demeanor. Jaebum’s shoulders grew wide with pride.

 

He spent most of his childhood days at their house as his mother died early on and his dad had a hard time focusing on his career while also taking care of his son.. 

 

His father was a politician, a career man, who was hardly at the beginning of his career at the time of Jaebum’s birth. He loved his son unconditionally but he loved his career too. It was hard and Jaebum had to spend a lot of weekends at his grandparents’ house but they managed and as time passed Jaebum’s dad started to get more and more successful. 

 

At the beginning of General Im’s career, there had still been another government running the planet. Quite a lot of things were different back then. Everything was proportioned, there were set rules for everything, the government was micromanaging everything from childbirth to economy. 

 

And then came Jaebum’s father. He was a force to be reckoned with, standing up against old rules, fighting for freedom both on a personal and economic level. In less than two election terms, he was elected as the minister of Artilion and 6 years later he became a part of the  _ Doiralar _ . 

 

Artilion’s political system was quite similar to the one used on Earth a long time ago. Long before everybody had to be evacuated from the dying planet before it burst into meteors and fine space dust, destroying every life form on its surface. 

 

Artilion wasn't a second earth, the majority of its population wasn't even of human descent but it was still a planet greatly influenced by human culture. Human customs such as  _ handshakes  _ and  _ happy hours _ were still alive and thriving on Artilion alongside a political system based on the ones used in ancient human governments.

 

Elections were held with different parties, then ministers were chosen from the party with the absolute majority. Even though the ministers were representatives of planets, they did not hold much power. They were all working under the Union of Galaxies - the biggest intergalactic union with more than 360 planets. The ones with any sort of power, were the ones in the  _ doiralar.  _

 

The  _ doiralar  _ controlled the ministers and the UG Federal Defences, the biggest military unit to date. But even the  _ doiralar  _ weren’t as powerful as the  _ Pengeran _ , the only ones who could make laws and pass bills and therefore controlled everything.

 

What the  _ Pengeran  _ exactly was, no one knew for sure. Most people referred to it as a person, some believed it to be some sort of unnatural power, in other people’s eyes it was God himself. No one knew where it was, no one knew what it looked like or what it sounded like. The only thing known was that it was where everything began and where it all ended. Even Jaebum’s father who had been part of the  _ doiralar  _ for the past 12 years knew nothing about it. The  _ Pengeran  _ was the enigma of the Universe itself. 

  
  


* * *

  
  


The distribution of assignments hadn’t started yet but Jaebum was already on his way to the headmaster’s office. He had left Youngjae shortly after his family showed up, not wanting to disturb the little time they had together before Youngjae got his first mission and left for good.

 

Walking through the empty hallways felt weird and unsettling after years of trying to rush through them, dodging people out of the way just so he could get to class on time. Now everything seemed vast and empty. 

 

_ It feels like an ending and the silent tension of a new beginning.  _ Jaebum thought as he stopped before the headmaster’s office and watched the holo panels slide open.

 

The Headmaster was sitting at his desk and opposite him was Jaebum’s dad, sitting in one of the visitor’s chairs with his back a little hunched over. He stood up with a big smile on his face as soon as he noticed Jaebum. 

 

“Son,  I’m glad you’re here! I was just talking about you with Headmaster Yoon.” Jaebum came to stand next to his father and bowed to the headmaster while his father put his hand on one of his shoulders. “I’ve been telling him how happy you are to finally be able to start serving the UGFD.”

 

“The UGFD is lucky to welcome such a great student among its ranks.” Headmaster Yoon said with a diplomatic smile. He looked at General Im then leaned closer. “Let’s keep this between us, but you were one of our best students, not only in your department but in the overall rankings too. Of course, with a father like yours, it's no wonder that you have a great career ahead you.” he laughed and Jaebum froze.  

 

_ With a father like yours, it's no wonder that you will have a great career waiting for you. _

 

“Of course, he will have a great career. He choose a fantastic path! Deep space missions. So many new things to discover! Mark my words, in a few years we’ll have a planet named after him!” patted his father him on the back and Jaebum remembers how afraid he had been to tell him he wanted to pursue a career in the deep space field at the beginning because truth be told, it wasn't a fruitful field. 

 

Space was endless of course, but they had already discovered so much that there was not much left to explore. The last breakthrough in deep space research happened 40 years ago when the planet  _ Tartar _ was discovered with snail like primitive alien forms and trees that were made out of various metals but Jaebum believed there were still many more planets to be discovered. Planets with much more interesting things than primitive snails and bronze leaves. 

 

He had been fourteen when he told his father of his plans. He still remembers how he stood in his dirty clothes in his father’s pristine office holding up a map of the UG space territory with little round planets made out of paper mache. He had been so nervous and anxious that his father, ever the career man, was going to reject him. Jaebum doesn't think he will ever forget his father’s first reaction.

 

He took the map out of Jaebum’s tiny hands and put it on his important looking papers, even though there was still some undried on the bottom, and took Jaebum in his lap to study the map together. He asked Jaebum about planets that were not part of the UG and let Jaebum talk hours on end about planets with exotic flowers and cat-like species, all planets he was going to discover one day. 

 

Now many many years later with his deep space studies diploma in his hand, his father still looked at him with nothing but encouragement. 

 

“But now unfortunately, Jaebum and I must take our leave. There’s still work waiting for me. I thank you for  _ this” _ he lifted up his other hand not on Jaebum's shoulder, holding a sleek tablet “and I also thank you for your time. I can only imagine how stressful graduation day can be for you.”

 

“It was my pleasure, Minister Im.” The Headmaster smiled. “The members of the  _ doiralar  _ are always welcomed guests in my office.”

  
  


* * *

  
  


Jaebum and his dad walked in comfortable silence out of the main building of the UG University. Outside, they sat down on one of the benches under the shade of a  _ Cippos _ \- a mushroom like umbel made out of lilac colored fiberglass atop of a light silver pillar decorated with fine aluminium leaves. 

 

“I saw that your grandparents came” his father said. He was leaning back on the bench and Jaebum hadn't seen him in so long, the movement almost seemed unnatural even though it was a habit of the man to always slouch back a little in his seat. 

 

“Yes. Grandma cried when she saw me” Jaebum said in a fond voice. His dad smiled.

 

“And I'm guessing dad was as reserved as always?” 

 

“Yeah, he did say he was proud of me though”

 

“I am too. I’m really proud of you, Jaebum.” 

 

Jaebum looked down at his shoes, emotion swelling up in his chest. He had to clear his throat before speaking. 

 

“Thanks, dad.”

 

“I can't believe my son is a captain. How time flies” he sighed and the light breeze ruffled his hair slightly. 

 

“Not a captain.  _ Soon _ but not yet. In a few years, hopefully.” 

 

“I’m pretty sure he’s a captain though. I mean as far as I’m concerned, it's what his post assignment says.” his father shrugged nonchalantly. Jaebum breath hitched.  _ Post assignment?  _

 

“What do you mean? I haven't gotten my post assignment yet” Jaebum furrowed his brows in confusion.

 

“Well, I did.” his father held up the same sleek tablet from before. “And it says you’re one.”

 

Jaebum grabbed the tablet out of his hands with his heart bearing in his throat. 

 

_ This is the moment of truth _ . He scanned the page with nervous eyes. 

 

**Name:** Im, Jaebum

**Age:** 23

 

**Diploma/Field of expertise:** Deep Space Studies, Intergalactical Mission Leadership, Extended Astronomy and Planetary Studies

 

**Assigned field of work:** missions, deep space mission, interterritorial communication and expedition, planetary research (active) 

 

**Mission Assigned:** positiv (under supervision of Commander Park J. V., First Officer) 

 

**Mission Name:** MI67° 9′ 36

 

**Mission task:** Investigation of unfamiliar radio waves at 23° 12′ 92

 

**Position:** Captain

  
  


Jaebum couldn't believe his eyes. He had been assigned a mission, not only as part of the crew but as the head of the crew. As the captain. He will have his own crew, his own ship and his own mission.  _ This can’t be real.  _

 

It was a small mission, just a safety check of some unknown radio waves, the whole thing probably won't take long to complete and he’s going to be supervised the whole time but  _ still _ .  It was so rare for fresh graduates to get assigned on missions, let alone lead one. This was everything Jaebum has worked for ever since the age of 14. The reason why he studied endlessly, sacrificing fun and friends, at times the hopes of  _ one day _ serving as his only companion at night.  _ And now he’d made it _ .

 

He felt his entire being buzz with excitement. Suddenly everything seemed better. It felt like holding all of his childhood dreams and hopes in his hands. The map of the universe with the crooked little paper mache planets, the still drying glue at the bottom and all the mysterious planets he has yet to discover, all in his hands on this small tablet waiting for him to enter his greatest adventure yet. 

 

_ With a father like yours, it's no wonder that you will have a great career waiting for you. _

 

The words struck him like a lightning, leaving the world more grey and dark than moments ago. Jaebum looked at his father, a question filled with insecurity and worry on his tongue but no words left his mouth because his father was sitting next to him, slouching a little as always and looking at Jaebum with a smile.

 

“You'll do great, son.”

  
  


* * *

 

There was chaos unfolding on the main bridge of the XI02466 Intercommissinal Spaceship.

 

“Captain, it's… its like the ship is getting sucked in… this shouldn’t be possible!”

 

“Do we have all our engines working? If not let’s switch them all on and direct it at the planet. Full blast, it might push us away!”

 

“If we activate all of our remaining engines, we need to deactivate our defence shield but with the amount of magnetic force the planet is pulling us in, we’d be crushed in half in less than two seconds.”

 

_ Shit _ . 

 

“Is there no other way? This is a goddamn army ship, how can a planet’s magnetic energy snap it in half? There has to be something that can be done!” The captain yelled. 

 

The whole ship had gone into emergency mode not long after they left hyperspace. The XI02466 was on its way back from  _ Honos,  _ one of the farthest planets in the UG, when they left their assigned hyperspace tunnel to enter into a different one that, according to their research, would’ve taken them home much faster. The tunnel wasn't one of the UG assigned military use designed hyperspace tunnels but the XI02466 and its crew had spent the last 8 months out on a mission and they were more than eager to get home faster. Using non-UG military hyperspace wasn't out of protocol but it didn't happen very often that captains decided to use them. 

 

In the beginning everything had been fine. There were no electrical problems, they moved in time and space according to their research when the ship abruptly shook and was ripped out of the tunnel. 

 

As hyperspace tunnels are basically an endless tunnel of energy speeding at a rate faster than light, it should have been technically impossible for ships to be ripped out of them. Yet the XI02466 has been caught in this foreign planet’s magnetic field that was so strong it redefined time and space. 

 

The rip alone had damaged the ship greatly. Its entire left side was crushed by the walls of the hyperspace tunnel, its right wing barely surviving. The ship went into immediate emergency mode, sealing down the entrance to its now missing sections and switching all the defence panels up around the remaining parts of the ship as to slow the the pull of the planet. 

 

“Call for help! Let the UG know where we are and that we need help! NOW!” the captain called and the for the communication responsible officer scrambled to follow his order. 

 

“XI 02466 to Alpha Zero! I repeat XI 02466 to Alpha Zero, we need help! We’re getting sucked in by a foreign planet! We need help, Apha Zero do you hear me? We need immediate help! XI02466 to Alpha Zero, send help! Our coordinates are  _ -22° 07' 02.9" _ . I repeat…” All of sudden the officer stopped talking as the panel before him went black. 

 

“What is happening? Why are the panels getting shut down?” yelled the captain. All around the room lights were flickering as the computers shut down simultaneously and then the lights went out and the emergency light switched on painting the entire bridge bright red.  Now with all the screens shut down the planet before them seemed even closer than before when half the window screen was still filled with information and it only seemed to get closer and closer as the ship continued being pulled in without any resistance. 

 

“I don't know what happened, captain. We lost most of the ship but our main power resources survived, it makes no sense  _ that _ …”

 

“ _ Emergency mode deactivated. Ship shutting down in 5… _ ”

 

“Who deactivated the emergency mode?”

 

“It shouldn't even be possible to deactivate it! It’s not computer controlled!”

 

“ _...4….3….” _

“Captain, what do we do?”

 

“ _... 2...1… The ship has shut down. _ ”

  
  


* * *

  
  


“I thank you for your services, Commander Park.”

 

“The honor was mine, Captain.” Park Jinyoung bowed before straightening out and walking out of the main bridge of the Interlude SS9. 

 

He had a travel bag on one shoulder and his tablet in the other hand, on it his already written report on the mission. This time he had flown with the CS Syracuse, a cargo ship transporting weapons to  _ Scavuvis _ . The mission had been fairly easy and not that long, Jinyoung’s main job had been to simply overlook the whole exchange as an official UG Commander since the CS Syracuse wasn’t an official UGFD ship and therefore wasn't allowed to legally transport any kind of cargo without a UG Supervisor. 

 

Jinyoung was a UG Commander and qualified first officer but he didn't have his own crew, so solo jobs like this weren’t unusual for him. It’s really not that he had never gotten an offer to join a crew, it’s just that solo work suited him better. There are always missions like this, where only one person of UG authority is needed and there are not many untied Commanders around, so actually he’s being rather helpful with of lack of commitment. 

 

Jinyoung walked out of the Interlude SS9 into one of the smaller UGFD hangar docks. The hangar dock was a block building with multiple ship entrances on its sides. Each entrance lead to a docking station and in the middle of it was a huge runway connecting all the different stations together. It was relatively on the outside of Maowei - the central city of Artilion - about an hour away from its city centre. This specific hangar was always full of non-UGFD ships as it was often used for not UGFD missions only.

  
  


Jinyoung walked down the runway and headed straight to the UGFD Admission office. Each dock had its own Admission office connected directly to the head offices in the UGFD HQ. The AO in this particular dock was designed for non-UGFD members, so Jinyoung went directly to the drop off station -  a room with two rows of built in computers with quadratic boxes next to them. He went to the nearest one available, logged into the system and pushed his tablet into the box, sending his report in. 

  
  


By the time he got back to his apartment it was already dark outside. He lived, just like most of Maowei’s population, in a skyscraper snugly fitted next to many other ones. Maowei was Artilion most populated city since next to normal citizens nearly every UGFD member lived here. There were no parks or any kind of green areas, the only public places were shopping malls, most of which were stretched over 20 floors. 

 

The streets in Maowei were narrow and distributed on different levels, as most skyscrapers had around 500 floors. Generally there was a street level after every 100 floor as to make accessing the correct floors easier and faster. Inbetween the street levels ran the SS Subway linking the whole city together and serving as the only form of transportation since the streets were too narrow for cars and smaller ships were deemed too dangerous to fly in the small spaces between the skyscrapers. 

 

Jinyoung lived on the 376th floor. Therefore after exiting the subway he made his way to the 4th street level. At night with only the streetlamps and billboards serving as sources of light Maowei looked dirty and worn out, the streets empty of people. Most people didn't really leave their apartments after dark, except for the  _ Ceayama  _ and  _ Skadus 38X  _ districts, which were better known as the red light districts. Those districts were alive and thriving 24/7. In his 6 years of living in Maowei, Jinyoung has never once visited those places. 

 

Arriving at the 376th floor, Jinyoung put his hand on the touch screen and unlocked his apartment. Stepping in, he switched the lights on and looked around, taking the place in. 

 

It looked the same, nothing had changed since he left for the mission to  _ Scavuvis _ or perhaps it would be better to say, nothing changed since he bought the apartment 6 years ago. 

 

He dropped his travel bag on the floor and went to the kitchen. His fridge was empty but luckily he found a pack of ramen in one of the cupboards. After eating his meal he made his way over to the couch in the living room and turned on the tv. He switched between channels for a while, before deciding on the news channel.

 

“... _ this afternoon, pieces of a UGFD spaceship were found near the outskirts of the UG territory. The cause of what seems like a total explosion of the ship is unknown. The UG Space Police Department has yet to give a statement but there is a rumour from insiders that the black box of the ship had melted and the police is unable to recover any kind of data on the incident. No survivors have been reported.”  _

 

The sound of his tablet buzzing made Jinyoung snap out of dazedly watching the tv. He reached over to grab the tablet and saw a new incoming email from the UGFD.  _ Another mission?  _ It wasn't unusual to get a new assignment shortly after completing one but he has never gotten one on the day of reporting back. He opened the email with furrowed brows.

 

**From:** UGFD HQ - Distribution Section M

**Subject:** New Assigned Mission Code 98235

To: V.P.Jinyoung, Commander and First Officer, Rank 34

 

Mission Code 98235

 

Please check in tomorrow 1500 at the HQ Mission AO Center.

  
  


* * *

  
  


Jaebum opened his umbrella as he exited the subway. The weather had been gloomy all day and by afternoon rain was pouring heavily on the city. Making his way through the mass and he headed straight to the entrance of the UGFD HQ. 

 

The building was massive and it loomed over Jaebum like it was going to swallow him whole. It was the only distinctive building in the city with its oval form and impressive 746 floors. There were 400 different sections and more than 1 million employes working in the building, not counting the ones who worked in the docking station and ship hangar that were connected to the main building. 

 

Jaebum made his way to the 6th street level and closed his umbrella while walking into the lobby of the Mission AO Center. The lobby was narrow and empty, with only a few employees rushing through, talking into their headsets. Next to the entrance was an umbrella holder, where Jaebum quickly disposed his dripping umbrella. On the other side of the lobby were rows of touch screens built into the walls with massive doors next to each of them. 

 

Jaebum had never been to the UGFD HQ before but he didn't let uncertainty deter him.  _ Today was the day. _

 

Walking up to one of the touch screen, he typed in his registration code and put his hands against the DNA decoder for identification. The machine chirped.

 

“ _ Welcome Captain Im, you are now authorized to enter meeting room 56. Your briefing will begin shortly. _ ”

 

Jaebum heard the door next to him unlocking so he grabbed the door handle and entered a small room with a minimalist design. The walls were pristine white and the only furniture was a black glass meeting table with 6 chairs around it. Just as Jaebum wanted to take a seat, the door behind him opened again and two men in their UGFD uniforms entered. 

 

“Captain Im, welcome to your first briefing. I’m Commander Yang, human from Artilis.”

 

“Thank you sir. Captain Im Jaebum, human from Artilis, at your service.” bowed Jaebum. 

 

Commander Yang was a man around his forties in good health, clearly still working in active duty. The other man standing next to him seemed younger though, maybe a few years older than Jaebum himself. He looked human - his face reminded Jaebum of the faces of handsome actors whose posters were plastered all over the city - except his ears were unnaturally big and pointy and his pale skin looked slightly greenish. Turning towards him, Jaebum repeated his bow and introduction. 

 

“Park Jinyoung, vulcanian from the planet Vulcan. Commander and First Officer.” the man nodded his way then went and took a seat at the meeting table, placing his tablet on top of it. 

 

“Please, take a seat, Captain” pointed Commander Yang at the meeting table. He walked to the front while Jaebum sat down opposite of Officier Park. Commander Yang then touched the wall and a screen with the UGFD logo appeared. “Let’s begin, shall we?”

 

“This mission should be fairly easy. It will be the perfect first mission for you, Captain Im. Nothing too hard for the first time. Commander Park will be there with you at all times to oversee everything.” Yang nodded at Officier Park with a smile. Jinyoung didn't react, face displaying passiveness and detachment.  _ Typical Vulcanian _ , Jaebum thought.

 

“We have been getting some weird wave movement signals from this part of our galaxy” A map of the Union of Galaxies appeared on the screen, before starting to zoom in on a point, not far away from the territory’s border. “There’s nothing really out there, no major planets or space cram. We suspect its just some minor astroid going through or some meteors colliding. Your job will be to travel there and collect data, observe the situation a little and then report back. As it’s a place far away we’re giving you a light speed ship that way you will be able to shorten the travel time from 3 months to two weeks.”

 

“Light speed ships don't come with any form of weapon. I must make the interlocution that I don't think it’s safe for us to travel that close to the border with a ship that has no defense.” interrupted Jinyoung. Commander Yang furrowed his eyebrows and let out an awkward smile. 

 

“There is nothing there, Commander Park. You won't be needing any defense mechanism besides the normal safety shields every UGFD ship has.” He pointed at the screen, which showed a white circle with coordinates next to it but otherwise only black space and a few stars, as to make his point clearer. “In addition, Captain Im doesnt seem to have any problems with the light speed ship.”

 

Jaebum actually did have problems with the light speed ship but before he could open his mouth, Jinyoung started talking again.

 

“With all due respect sir, I don’t think  _ Captain Im _ has any kind of experience and therefore right to say anything about what’s safe in outer space. His lack of protest doesn’t mean anything.”

 

“Well, actually, I majored in extended astronomy with focus on deep space” Jaebum began to say even if Jinyoung just continued looking at him as unimpressed as before “And I was just about to agree with you that a light speed ship wouldn't be safe enough for a mission like this.” 

 

Jinyoung rolled his eyes. 

 

“Regardless of what the two of you deem  _ safe _ , the decision is in the hands of the UGFD and they have decided that a light speed ship will be safe enough. Therefore, onto the details now.” 

 

“Captain Im, as you have freshly graduated, you do not have your own crew yet. As it is quite unusual for somebody to become a captain right after graduation, we do not have a proper protocol about crew assignments that we could apply to your case. Usually gathering a crew is done by the captain, who after years of being with different crew members on different ships, chooses his or her crew based on their experience. In your case however, since you lack said experience, the board has decided to create a new crew and use this mission as a, ah, let's call it,  _ probation period _ to see weather this arrangement could be favourable in the future. The detailed profiles of the crew members will be emailed to you right after the meeting.” smiled Commander Yang. “Any questions?”

 

“Yes. I'd like to know whether the medical staff have already been chosen? I'd be especially interested in knowing whether or not the position of the head doctor has been assigned yet.” 

 

“Why, you have a proposal?” Jinyoung snorted. Jaebum narrowed his eyes at him, his anger rising. 

 

“Yes, actually, I do. Choi Youngjae, Denobulan, class of 3240. Scored the highest on the final exam.” 

 

“A graduate?” Jinyoung asked in disbelief then continued in a patronising tone “Captain Im, I'm not sure if you understand the seriousness of the situation. We are talking about a real life mission here, where anything could happen. We need a someone who will be able to handle the situation, a senior with experience, not a  _ newbie _ .”

 

“I’d like to remind you that your captain is a  _ newbie  _ as well, First Officer” Jaebum said. Jinyoung eyes turned cold.

 

“You might be the captain and I the first Officer but I’m in every way your senior and you will be under  _ my  _ supervision during the mission, so I advise you to rethink how you're going to behave around me, seeing as out of the two of us, I’m the more experienced one who can therefore be of better judgement,  _ understood?”  _

 

Jaebum pressed his lips together as he was seething in his chair. Anger management has never been one of his fortes. 

 

“Understood,  _ Captain Im  _ or is common sense not required anymore for one to be able to graduate?” 

 

Jinyoung was staring Jaebum with a patronizing look but Jaebum didn't fold under his gaze. He straightened his shoulders, pushed his jaw out and said without breaking eye contact:

 

“If the position of the head doctor is still negotiable, I'd like to propose Choi Youngjae, Commander Yang.”

 

Jinyoung’s knuckles turned white where he was gripping the table.

 


	2. Deep Space

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lullaby promotions might have ended (with 7 wins! whoop whoop) but this fic is only beginning. there's a lot more jjp in this chapter and the crew makes an appearence too, so enjoy reading it! :) 
> 
> big thanks to [Miranda](https://jjshipper.tumblr.com/) for helping me out with looking over the chapter! ♡

The LS Lupos was set to leave early in the morning. The hangar where it was docked was on the north side of Maowei, which meant Jaebum had to take the subway to get there on time. 

 

He sat next to the window on the nearly empty train with his travel bag in his lap and stared at the blurry picture of the buildings passing by. 

 

He had waited for this moment for so long, had spent night after night dreaming about finally boarding a ship for his first mission but now that it was happening, he felt like he could hardly breathe. His uniform felt like it was a few sizes too small and Jaebum had to undo the top button to breathe properly, before wiping his sweaty hands on his tights. He was a captain now, he couldn't be nervous, he had to get himself together. 

 

He tried to distract himself by going through his bag, checking whether he had forgotten something at home (he hadn't). He untied his shoe laces and tied them tighter, afraid he’d stumble on them and slip, dragging the whole ship down with him. By the time he had to get off, two more of his buttons were undone and his shoe laces were so tight, his feet were cold from lack of blood. 

 

On his way, he saw a flower pot of white lilacs in one of the windows and suddenly the short distance between the station and the hangar made him feel like he was crossing from one end of the universe to the other. 

 

He never thought of missing Artilion before. He had always dreamed about space, about going far, far away from home where there was nothing human left. Now though, he wondered whether that far away place had flowers like Artilion did and if yes, would those flowers feel like home just like these white lilacs?

  
  


* * *

  
  
  


Entering the hangar dock, Jaebum quickly realised that he’ll have to ask for help to find the LS Lupos. The hangar was huge, spanning over 4 stories with ship entrances from both sides. There were four runways connecting the docks together with multiple built in elevators. Jaebum was just about to go to the information screen board and figure out where he had to go when he heard his name being called.

 

“Im!” Park Jinyoung said as the strode up to Jaebum with confident steps. He had a travel bag slung over his shoulders and wore the uniform of a first officer.  _ “ _ I see you’re already lost. Follow me, the ship is this way.”

 

“I can find the ship on my own, thanks. _ ” _ Jaebum said and pressed his lips together.

 

“It would be highly illogical of you to try and find the ship on your own when I already know where to go.” Jinyoung stated and gave him a look that showed that he was questioning Jaebum’s intelligence before slipping his gaze lower. “Why is your uniform unbuttoned?” 

 

“I- uh - it was hot outside.’ Jaebum said quickly. Jinyoung looked like he was still contemplating Jaebum’s level of intelligence but luckily let the obvious lie slip. Instead he turned around and started walking in the direction of the other end of the hangars, leaving Jaebum no choice but to follow him. 

 

“I hope you read all the crew information files.” Jinyoung said stepping into one of the elevators and pressing the button to level 3. Jaebum furrowed his brows in confusion. 

 

“Of course I read them all.”

 

“Really?”

 

“ _ Yes. _ ”

 

“Surprising.”  Jinyoung hummed thoughtfully as the elevator stopped.

 

“What do you mean  _ surprising _ ?” Jaebum asked in an angry tone but Jinyoung didn't bother to elaborate, switching topics instead as he started to walk again. 

 

“The crew of this mission is  _ very  _ small, so as your supervisor I advise to to personally greet all of them so as to make a great first impression.”

 

“Can’t you advise me as my first officer instead of supervisor?”

 

“No.”

 

“I think we should talk about this captain-supervisor-first officer thing.”

 

“Furthermore, we need to discuss the shift arrangements and…”

 

“I already did that and would you just  _ please  _ listen to what I’m trying to say...” Jaebum interrupted. 

 

Jinyoung stopped in his steps and turned to face him. “You made the shift arrangements without consulting me first? You've never been on a ship, what do you even  _ know _ about shift arrangements?” 

 

“I took a course about it.” 

 

Jinyoung’s left eye twitched. 

 

“You took a course about it.”

 

“Yes.” 

 

“A course doesn’t tell you shit. You don’t have the qualifications to do something like this.”

 

Jaebum let out a frustrated sight. “Just what  _ exactly _ does my degree qualify me for then? As the first officer you should help me out instead if trying to put me on the side bench all the damn time. You didn’t listen to a single word I said before. I know this is my first mission but trust me when I say that I’m trying my best here.”

 

“Ever since we met, you went against everything I’ve said even though out of the two of us, I know things better, so why don’t you just  _ try harder _ by shutting up and actually trying to work with me instead of being stubborn. That way maybe you'll end up learning a thing or two.”

 

“I didn’t go against everything you said. I agreed with you about taking an LSP ship being a bad idea and let’s be honest, you didn’t even give me a chance to work with you. You opposed my proposal at the meeting right away.”

 

“You just graduated college. You’re like a baby chicken with the eggshell still stuck to its ass. You can’t expect me to take into consideration your proposal on a serious matter like the  _ ship doctor. _ ”

 

“The fact that I only graduated recently doesn’t make my opinion invalid!” 

 

“It does when you go behind my back and arrange things without my knowledge…” 

 

“... _ I did not go behind your back!... _ ” 

 

“... and could you please do up your buttons properly? I already pointed it out once.” Jinyoung snapped.

 

“Could you please concentrate on the topic at hand?”

 

“It’s indecent for a captain to walk around with his uniform undone.”

 

“ _ It’s not undone, for christ’s sake! _ ”

 

“It isn’t proper either like it should be. You’re going against protocol,  _ yet again _ .”

 

“God, you’re insufferable.” Jaebum gritted through his teeth and clenched his hands into fists. Jinyoung scoffed.

 

“You shouldn’t talk to me like that, I’m your senior  _ and  _ supervisor.”

 

“And I’m your captain,  _ first officer. _ I talk to you however I want.” Jaebum grunted angrily and started to walk away, purposefully knocking his shoulders into Jinyoung’s. Only when he was already about 20 feet away did Jinyoung shout after him. 

 

“You still don’t know where to go!”

 

Jaebum stopped in his steps. His jaw hurt from the way he clenched it and he had to take a few deep breaths before he stopped seeing red. He un-clenched his fists, pushed his shoulders back and went back to stand next to Jinyoung, keeping his gaze straight ahead and away from Jinyoung. 

 

“ _ Dumbass. _ ” Jinyoung muttered under his breath and started to walk in the direction opposite to where Jaebum was headed moments ago. 

 

* * *

  
  
  


The LS Lupos was by far the smallest ship in the entire hangar. It was a space gray, oval shaped one story ship that probably couldn't fit more than 10 people. There were still mechanics milling around when Jaebum entered the dock, filling up the tank, doing the last of the obligatory check ups. Jinyoung left to talk to some of them.

 

In the meantime Jaebum entered the ship. The interior was similar to the interior of the MSP they used to train with except a lot smaller. The entrance of the hallway led to a long corridor which stretched all the way to the bridge at the front of the ship. On the right were doors leading to the medical section, the storage rooms and the evacuation capsules. There were only two doors on the left side, one to the kitchen and one to the crew section, which is where Jaebum decided to go first to drop off his travel bag. 

 

The door was made of glass and could only be opened by a hand scan, just like every other door on the ship. Inside there was a corridor with 4 sleeping capsules on each side. The end of the corridor lead to the lounge space, a round room with a big table in the middle, surrounded by two half moon couches. 

 

There were no names on the sleeping capsules so Jaebum threw his bag on the nearest one, deciding that it would be the best to stay as close to the exit as possible. The sleeping capsule wasn't big by any means but there were two shelves built into the wall and a shutter that could be pulled down to give them some privacy. Jaebum figured that it was nice enough for a small ship like this. 

 

After unpacking some of his belongings, Jaebum went to the bridge, which looked very different from what he was expecting. During all of his MSP training, the stimulation bridges had been round with multiple panels and an extra space for the captain and the first officer. The bridge of the LS Lupus was more like a triangle with a two pilot seats at the front. There were only four panels (two on each side) and they were all built into the wall with small chairs in front of them. In the middle of the room was the captain’s chair, hardly bigger than the other seats in the room, and that was about it. 

 

Jaebum sighed. It was small and modest but it was his own and that is what really mattered. 

 

“Hello?” A small voice behind him asked and when Jaebum turned around he came face to face with a tall, alien looking guy blinking owlishly around the room. “I’m looking for the LS Lupos? Not entirely sure whether I’m in the right place though, the hangar systems on Artilion always confuse me…”

 

“No, you’re in the right place. I’m Captain Im, human, from Artilion. And you are..?”

 

“I’m Yugyeom, Coccinellidae, form Yenobo, pilot position.” said the alien boy,  _ Yugyeom _ , and bowed in front of Jaebum.

 

He was all lanky arms and legs and he towered well over Jaebum when he stood up straight again. Jaebum had to  _ actually  _ bend his neck backward to look him in the eye. His skin had a reddish pink color and he had small black spots all over his body. His eyes were unnaturally large and shiny and there were two antennas sticking out of his messy black hair. 

 

As far as Jaebum knew Coccinellidae were a very peaceful but hypersensitive species. They made excellent pilots as they had 10 times better eyesight than humans and their reaction time could be less than 0.06 seconds in case of an emergency. They were said to be highly sensitive when in came to emotions too.

 

“Welcome aboard!” Jaebum said and smiled at him.  

 

“Gyeom? Gyeom! Where did you g-oh..” the bridge door opened and another guy came stumbling in. 

 

“You must be Bambam.” Jaebum said turning towards him. Bambam was smaller than Yugyeom although not by much. His skin was made white and felt cold to the touch. His hair was also white and his eyes were golden.

 

Jaebum has heard of Gions before but never met one since they were… kind of crazy. Like really fucking crazy. Their energy seemed endless and their behavior could be only described as reckless. Most Gions were inventors and scientist just like Bambam but they usually did not serve on ships. Their recklessness made them the perfect crazy scientists any company wishing to develop the new hit product could wish for. On a mission on the other hand, their impulsiveness could cause huge damage. But Bambam wore an official UGFD uniform which meant that he had done his training and was approved by the board, so Jaebum tried to keep his worries at bay. The UDFD knows what they’re doing.

 

The newcomer paled and frantically started to look from Jaebum to Yugyeom and back at Jaebum. 

 

“How did you know my name? Gyeom? How did he know my name?” 

 

“I’ve read your files. I’m Captain Im, human, from Artilion.” 

 

Bambam seemed to mull over his words for a few seconds as he looked Jaebum up and down, then his eyes settled on the captain emblem on Jaebum’s uniform and his whole posture changed from wary to relaxed.  

“OH! Right! I’m Bambam, Gion, from Thaceclite, the best mechanic at your service, Captain!” Bambam bowed so enthusiastically he almost hit his head on his knees. “Sorry, I was just expecting… someone more…”

 

“.…experienced? Weren’t we all?” Jinyoung sighed as he entered the bridge followed by three other people. Jaebum couldn’t help but roll his eyes. Bambam and Yugyeom seemed unsure of how to react. They probably weren’t used to this kind of behavior between the captain and first officer. 

 

“I’m Jinyoung, Vulcanian from the planet Vulcan. First Officer.” He introduced himself then nodded at the three other people standing beside him. “And these people are the rest of the crew. Sunmi,  _ Aquillo _ , from  _ Segniuq _ , coordination, Eunbi,  _ Lisyke _ , from  _ Lelryke _ , communication, Jackson, human, from Artilion, tech and lastly … ”

  
  


“Youngjae!” Jaebum grinned. Youngjae grinned back at him. “ _ Captain. _ ”

 

“As I was saying… “ Jinyoung cleared his throat and shot Jaebum an annoyed look. “Lastly, Youngjae, Denobulan from the X89-12 planet, head doctor.”

 

Jackson was the shortest amongst them all but he had the most visibles muscles. His hair was light brown and he had a pair of black glasses sitting on the top of his nose. The two women looked both very visibly like aliens. Sunmi had blue skin decorated with scales, striking neon green eyes and everytime she smiled two rows of perfectly white fangs could be seen. Eunbi had a much softer feel to her. Her skin was soft violet and it glowed as if she was standing under direct moonlight. Her ears were bigger than human ears but unlike Jinyoung her ears had a pointy tip.

 

“Welcome aboard.” Jaebum said with a smile.

  
  


* * *

  
  
  


The journey to the given coordinates was scheduled to take six and a half days, which was more than enough time for everybody to get to know each other, especially on such a small ship. 

 

Jackson had been a big help in getting everyone together, even if he spent most of his time holed away in the technical system room, furiously typing God knows what into one of the computers. Whenever he decided to resurface and join the crew though, he immediately brightened everybody’s mood. Jinyoung even went ahead and shocked Jaebum when he smiled at one of Jackson’s corny jokes. The fact that he was capable of positive emotions was already mind blowing to Jaebum. Jackson seemed to like Jinyoung a lot for whatever unfathomable reason and tried to take every opportunity to cling to the Vulcanian, who didn’t seemed to appreciate the sentiment much. Jaebum had seen him slip into the technical system room to accompany Jackson on multiple occasions though. 

 

Jackson also took a liking to Youngjae, who he was regularly bothering in the medical section with serious matters such as  _ finger cramps  _ (“They hurt so much!” “Shut up, Jackson. Your fingers are  _ fine. _ ” “I think I’m dying. This is serious, hyung!” ) and Sunmi, who for all her unnervingly neon eyes and sharp fangs, was unexpectedly awkward and had a hard time fitting in as the only  _ hydraulic  _ species on the ship. Jackson didn’t let her fade into the background though and tried to include her as much as possible. Eunbi helped him out with that too. Eunbi, who had the personality of a drunk college frat which completely opposed her delicate features, was blunt, spoke whatever was on her mind and was also the only other person besides Jaebum to oppose Jinyoung (although only occasionally unlike Jaebum who seemed to find something to go against every 5 minutes). 

 

As days passed, it turned out that Bambam and Yugyeom had worked together before and were actually good friends. Yugyeom had the ability to balance out Bambam’s occasional frantic behavior quite well. When Jinyoung found out, he quietly whispered “ _ Good, at least I don’t have to deal with him now”  _ under his breath and looked, for the first time since Jaebum met him, like he was relieved to have some responsibilities taken from him. 

 

As for Jaebum and Jinyoung, they still disagreed about everything. Jinyoung still insisted on being superior to Jaebum and Jaebum still didn’t care about his opinion, so most of their interactions were limited to petty insults and unsuccessful trials at working together. 

 

The crew of course noticed right away, the foul mood between the captain and first officer and Jackson, who was slowly becoming the official middleman of the ship, tried his best to make them behave and have normal conversation instead of  _ “throwing a fit like a pair of 5-year-olds” _ .  After an intense  _ discussion  _ between Jaebum and Jinyoung on the very first night about shift arrangements, which almost ended in Jaebum’s anger getting the better of him, Jackson had dragged Jaebum out of the bridge to the medical section where Youngjae, who was unpacking medical supplies, had the unfortunate job of having to listen to Jaebum fume about Jinyoung. 

 

“You know, as your hyung, I do have to admit, you aren’t especially respectful when it comes to your elders.” Youngjae shrugged as he scanned the description box on some medicine in his hands. Jaebum was lying on one of the hospital beds, he threw his hands up dramatically.

 

“I would have respected him if he weren't such an asshole! He said the eggshell is still stuck to my ass!”

 

“He said  _ what _ ?” Youngjae looked up with a confused expression.

 

“He criticizes everything I do and acts like I don’t know anything just because I don’t have experience.”

 

“But you don’t have any experience” Youngjae blinked at him. “and there are a lot of things you don’t know. He has been on many missions before, have you ever considered that maybe he’s just trying to help you?” Youngjae said but Jaebum only scoffed and sat up on his elbows to look at Youngjae properly.

 

“Did you know he opposed my proposal to have you as the ship doctor? And on top of that, he called me a dumbass.  _ A dumbass _ , Youngjae.” 

 

“That’s … he was actually…” Youngjae furrowed his brows. “You know what? I think you should try and talk to him. I think there’s a huge misunderstanding between the two of you.” 

 

“Did you not hear the part where he called me a dumbass? I’ll never talk to his pretentious ass again.” Jaebum huffed and fell back on the bed. 

 

“You  _ are _ a dumbass, Jaebum-ah, so where’s the lie?” 

  
  


* * *

  
  


“Getting ready to leave the tunnel in 3… 2… 1… the ship made it out safely, Captain.” Sunmi said smoothly guiding the ship out of hyperspace. They were all huddled together on the bridge as they finally made it to the edge of the UG.

 

“Alright, good job. How long until we get to the exact coordinates?” 

 

“We should be there in less than 5 minutes.” Sunmi said and Jaebum nodded, before turning to Eunbi and Jackson. 

 

“Are we detecting any signals?”

 

“Nothing yet, Captain.” Jackson answered.

 

“Aren’t we supposed to be picking up at least some sort of weakened waves? We’re getting closer and closer, we should be picking up some signals already.” Jinyoung said with a confused voice.

 

“We’re not getting anything.” Eunbi turned to Sunmi with furrowed brows. “Are you sure we’re at the right place?” 

 

“Yes, we’re almost there… Yugyeom, can you go to the right for about 800 metres? Now stop.” She said and Yugyeom turned down the engines and let the ship float. Everybody turned to stare out of the glass window at the front. “This should be it.”

 

Except there was no it. They were surrounded by almost complete darkness as stars so far out on the edge of the universe were rare and infrequent. Besides one or two small stars dimly shining in the distance, there was nothing. No rocks, no meteors, no planets. The only light source besides the faint glow of the hyperspace tunnel were the lights on the outside of the LS Lupus. 

 

“Uhm… Am I the only one who doesn’t see shit?” Bambam said and leaned over Yugyeom’s shoulder to squint at the vast blackness in front of them. 

 

“Something’s wrong.” Jinyoung said in a worried tone. “Yugyeom start slowly rotating the ship, Eunbi run a scan for wave signals, or  _ any  _ kind of signals and Jackson check the system.” 

 

“Maybe they gave us the wrong coordinates?” Jaebum wondered as the ship started to slowly rotate on its axis but no matter which direction they faced, darkness was the only thing they saw. 

 

“The UGFD doesn’t give out false coordinates.” Jinyoung replied. 

 

“Did the signals disappear then?”

 

“Unlikely.” Jinyoung said and looked over to Eunbi. “Did you find anything?” 

 

“There’s… we’re picking up something but it’s very weak… and I don’t think it’s the kind of space wave signal we were looking for...”

 

“What is it then?” Jaebum asked. 

 

“Just… a normal radio wave.” Eunbi said looking confused. Jackson leaned over to see the tablet she was holding.

 

“How is that even possible, there’s nothing here that could be sending out those signals…” 

 

“Can you get some sort of audio or visual from it?” Bambam asked.

 

“It’s too weak and irregular, so no, I don't think I can.” 

 

“Captain! There! There’s something!” Yugyeom yelled and slammed down on a button on the panel in front of him. The ship stopped abruptly and Jinyoung and Jaebum both went to stand next to him, squinting through the glass panels. “Where? I can’t see anything.”

 

“Over there, it’s really small. I am probably the only one who can see it from this distance. Captain, permission to fly there.” 

 

“Permission granted.”

 

“Permission  _ denied. _ ” 

 

Jaebum looked at Jinyoung with his jaw pushed forward. “I am the captain, I make the decision.” 

 

“No, you do not. Not if I, as your supervisor, decide that your decision making is dangerous and irresponsible. You can’t just run off to whatever random planet comes in your way. You have to think about the safety of the ship and the crew.” Jinyoung said angrily.

 

“So what do you say we do then?” 

 

“We look up in the UGFD database which planets are near us and evaluate whether or not it would be safe for us to fly there. Jackson, could you please do that?”

 

“It’s a small planet. Kind of brownish with blue rings around it. The surface kinda looks… kind of bumpy? Or maybe there are just craters, I can’t see it clearly…Maybe it could be the  _ Rodus _ ?” Yugyeom, who by now has pressed his whole face against the window, wondered. 

 

“The  _ Rodus  _ is on the other end of the Galaxy, Yugyeom.” Jinyoung sighed. “Did you find something Jackson?”

 

“No, according to the UGFD database, there shouldn’t be any planets out here. But the scanner does show an unknown planet on the map, so Yugyeom is right. There is something out there.”

 

Nobody said anything and Jaebum’s heart started to hammer in his chest.  _ An unknown planet. _ He couldn’t believe his luck. They found something. Right on his first mission. If he goes back and reports this to the UGFD maybe he’ll be given the chance to explore the planet with an explorer unit. Maybe there’s a new life form or precious natural resources on that planet. Jaebum couldn’t believe his luck. 

 

“We have to go back and report this to the HQ, so that they can …”

 

“No. Yugyeom, start flying towards the planet.” Jinyoung interrupted. He looked pale. 

 

“ _ Excuse me? _ ” Jaebum couldn’t believe his ears. “Not even a minute ago you said we shouldn’t go there because it’s too dangerous and now you suddenly  _ changed your mind _ ?” 

 

“Yes, I did. Yugyeom, go.  _ Now _ .” 

 

“You’re not the captain, you can’t…” 

 

“Could you just stop with your “I am the captain” bullshit for a second? You only got your position because of your dad anyway so stop thinking like we’re on equal footing here! Why can’t you just shut up and make my life easier for a second?” Jinyoung shouted, his ears burning red. He tried to take a few deep breaths to calm himself but it was too late because Jaebum was already in front of him, grabbing his uniform by the collar. 

 

“You say that again, you fucking…” Jaebum grunted and pushed Jinyoung against the wall but he got dragged away and out of the bridge by Jackson and Youngjae before his fist could introduce itself to Jinyoung‘s face.

Yugyeom, in the meantime got back into the pilot’s seat and looked unsure about what to do. Jinyoung was still leaning against the wall with his eyes closed. He was breathing heavily and when he spoke his voice sounded tired and resigned. 

 

“Start the engine, Yugyeom.”

  
  


* * *

  
  


Turns out Yugyeom’s eyesight was way better than everybody thought because it almost took them a day to get to the planet. As soon as they were close enough to it, Eunbi and Jackson started to run a scan on the planet to check whether landing on it would be safe or not. The planet came back with positive results. 

 

“How on Earth is this planet on the edge of nothing with perfect living conditions and why does no one know about it?” Eunbi asked staring at her tablet in bewilderment. 

 

“We just have to figure it out, I guess.” Bambam said then turned to Jaebum, who had by then calmed down enough to be able to be in the same room as Jinyoung and not try and deck the Vulcanian in the face. “We’re going down to explore the surface right?” 

 

Jaebum pressed his lips together as he thought about his answer. To be honest he didn't know what to tell him.

 

The adventurer in him wanted nothing more than to land as soon as possible and explore everything but as much as he hated to admit it Jinyoung was right to some extent, it could be extremely dangerous and they didn't have the right equipment for exploring. They weren't even supposed to be this close a foreign planet in such a defenseless ship. Regardless of what Jinyoung was thinking he was the captain and he had to think about the safety of his crew. If they were to go and explore the planet, which one of them would go down? Ships usually had qualified explorers with them who were capable of getting out alive from every surprise a foreign planet could be hiding. If some of them went out to explore the chances of survival weren’t very promising and what would they do if something happened? Did they even have medical supplements for bigger wounds? They were also on a time limit and if they were not back on time, the UGFD would want to know why and Jinyoung didn't want them to know about the foreign planet for some reason. 

 

The most confusing thing about this situation was Jinyoung’s behavior. Why did he bring up Jaebum’s dad? Jaebum wasn’t surprised that he knew who his father was, it wasn't exactly a secret after all but if he thought Jaebum only got the title because of his father why didn’t he mention it before? Was that the reason why he disliked Jaebum so much? It didn’t make sense though. Vulcanians were supposed to be reasonable and logical, so why was he using such an emotional matter as an argument against Jaebum’s authority? But more importantly, why didn’t he want them to report the new found planet to the UGFD? He was always advocating safety and the importance of following protocol and suddenly he wanted to go against it? It was clear that Jinyoung was hiding something but  _ what  _ he was hiding, Jaebum didn’t know. But he was going to find out. 

 

“No, we’re not going to explore the surface. We’re going to save the scans and make photos of the planet with the surveillance cameras and then we’re going to go back to Artilion and there…” he looked over to Jinyoung, who looked ready to interrupt. “…we will report back to the UGFD that we have not found any suspicious waves.”

 

“What? We can't just discover a planet and not explore it, _ c’mon man _ !” Bambam whined. “Think about all the possibilities! There could be a new life form, we could find the cure to some deadly illness, what if there was neon green goo instead of water on that planet? We  _ have _ to go down there…”

 

“Yugyeom, could you?” Jinyoung said but Yugyeom was already out of his seat. He softly grabbed the now animatedly talking and waving  _ Gion _ and guided him out of the room.  “Bam, you’ll have other opportunities to explore a planet, yeah, I know green goo is  _ cool _ but…”

 

The bridge fell into complete silence after the door closed behind them and for a long time no one said anything. Youngjae was the first one to break the silence.

 

“So what about the unknown planet then? Are we going to report it?” 

 

Jaebum leaned against the back of the pilot seat, looked Jinyoung in the eye and crossed his arms over his chest.

 

“I don’t know. Depends on what Jinyoung will tell us about it.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> fun fact: eunbi is sinb from gfriend. at first i used her stage name but later on i decided to just use her real name :) originally i wanted to use the vixx/monsta x members as the other crew members but i felt like there was some woman power needed with this many idiots on one ship :')
> 
> kodos and comments are much appreciated! ♡
> 
> come and say hi on [tumblr](https://baldbeom.tumblr.com) or [twitter](https://twitter.com/baldbeom23)!


	3. Update

Hi.

So, I know I haven't posted in month and I feel bad for it. The next chapter is done, the one after that is only missing about 500 words but I'm not sure when I'm going to post them.

I'm not doing well, life's pretty bad and everything is stressing me out right now.

I really wanted to post the next chapter but it feels just too much for me. I'll probably continue writing so maybe next time I'll be able to post 3 or 4 chapters at once, I'm not sure. But right now I need time, so thank you for subscribing and commenting and leaving kudos, it means a lot to me that people are actually interested in what I write.

My point here is that I wanted to let everyone know that this fic is still ongoing and I'll finish it, as I have pretty much everything already planned out, just not _now._

Hopefully I'll be back soon, until then take care everyone.

**Author's Note:**

> come and say hi on [tumblr](https://baldbeom.tumblr.com)!
> 
> kodos and comments are much appreciated! ♡


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